The Phantom Chanju Ship
Wang Yi Sam raised his voice in disbelief at Yang So So's completely unexpected words.
"You saved us, so we owe you a life debt?"
"That's right."
"Hey, we're grateful you saved us and all, but forcing us to cough up money? Are you a waterway gang or a band of thieves? I've wandered the Central Plains my whole life, but this is the first faction like yours!"
Seo Baek quietly raised his arm to silence Wang Yi Sam.
"Senior Brother, let me handle this."
"But, Junior Brother…."
Wang Yi Sam, fuming, caught the look in Seo Baek's eyes and shut his mouth.
Though Seo Baek was the youngest of the group, Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un had tacitly acknowledged him as their leader.
Seo Baek had intervened because of the desperation in Yang So So's eyes.
Despite her arrogant words, her gaze held a raw urgency.
After staring at her for a moment, Seo Baek spoke.
"Does this life debt have to be paid in money?"
"No. Not necessarily money…."
"So, if we handle a job for the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang, that settles it?"
"…!"
Yang So So's eyes wavered.
Seo Baek had struck the nail on the head.
"You're commissioning us because we're martial artists who came on the Ami Faction's boat?"
At those words, Yang So So exchanged a glance with the middle-aged man beside her.
'My guess was right.'
Yang So So had been watching Seo Baek's group closely ever since they first boarded.
Seo Baek's hunch that there was a reason for it proved spot-on.
"Yes. We have one job for you."
Yang So So began explaining the whole story.
A dozen years ago, Yang So So's father, Yang Gok, had broken away from the Long River Waterway Gang and established his own faction along a tributary connecting the upper reaches of the Long River to Sichuan.
That was the birth of the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang.
Gang leader Yang Gok had built a dam to slow the gorge's rapids and kept tolls light. The gang flourished, earning praise from merchants and travelers alike.
But when the revenants outbreak hit, everything changed. Trade ground to a halt, and the gang's income dried up.
Then one of the boatsmen got bitten by a revenant. He turned and attacked his comrades, and soon the entire boat was overrun.
Even the Chanju Ship—personally commanded by Yang Gok himself—couldn't escape the revenant plague.
The Chanju Ship was the gang's largest vessel, the only one capable of navigating both the treacherous upper gorges and the deep waters of the Long River.
Once even that ship fell to the revenants, the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang collapsed. Worse, the Chanju Ship had smashed into rocks, destroying the dam and creating a massive whirlpool.
Yang So So had taken over as acting leader, but with just one boat and a few dozen boatsmen left, rebuilding was impossible.
Then one day…
Rumors spread that the Chanju Ship had suddenly appeared on a Long River tributary.
The eerie part? It only showed up on nights of the full moon!
Yang So So couldn't fathom why her father—if he was still alive—would haunt the tributaries like that.
"We've sent boatsmen to search for it twice so far. None have returned."
"…."
"In three days, the full moon rises again."
"You want us to board it and uncover what happened?"
"Exactly. And confirm my father's fate, of course."
Seo Baek thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. We'll take the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang's commission."
"Then prepare yourselves. We move in three days."
With the discussion over, the group left the captain's quarters.
Back in their cabin, Wang Yi Sam asked, "We need to get to the Central Plains ASAP, so why accept this job?"
"Simple. We owe them a life debt."
"Tch, that damn life debt. Who asked to be saved?"
"There's another reason. To reach the Central Plains from the Three Gorges, we'll need a boat anyway."
"Well, yeah…."
"If we abandon ship now, we'd have to scale sheer cliffs and cross treacherous terrain. Might as well fight through a revenant horde on the Shu Dao Pass plains."
"Ugh…."
Unable to argue, Wang Yi Sam fell silent.
Yu So Un chimed in. "It makes perfect sense."
"I told you it was straightforward."
The matter was settled. Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un would follow Seo Baek's lead.
The three stretched out on their bunks, easing the fatigue of their journey.
Meanwhile, in the captain's quarters, Yang So So spoke with the middle-aged man.
"Deputy Leader, are you sure we can trust them with this?"
"Of course."
The man called Deputy Leader was Mo Hyeok Gwang.
In his mid-forties, Mo Hyeok Gwang had a long scar across one side of his face, yet his demeanor was surprisingly mild.
After Yang So So's father vanished, the boatsmen had wanted to elevate Mo Hyeok Gwang to leader. But he convinced them to install Yang So So as acting leader instead.
To her, he was both right-hand man and steadfast pillar.
It had been Mo Hyeok Gwang's idea to recruit Seo Baek's group. Though Yang So So had gotten their agreement, she inwardly opposed his plan.
"I'm all for retrying the infiltration. But Father never involved outsiders in gang business."
Despite her protests, Mo Hyeok Gwang persuaded her.
"We've sent boatsmen twice already, and they all failed."
"They haven't returned yet—that doesn't mean they've failed…."
"Regrettably, they're dead. These are martial artists from the Ami Faction's boat; their skills must be top-notch. Trust me this once."
His claim that the previous infiltrators were dead sounded cold, but it rang true. Yang So So, who had clung to hope for the missing men, silently berated herself.
"Understood. Thank you, as always, Deputy Leader."
"No need. I'll take my leave."
Mo Hyeok Gwang bowed slightly to Yang So So and exited the captain's quarters.
Alone now, Yang So So murmured with a hardened expression.
"Father, I'll come save you. Stay safe until then."
The boat pressed through the raging gorge rapids toward the Long River's downstream.
They passed several spots with fiercer currents than the whirlpool that had wrecked the Ami Faction's vessel.
Wang Yi Sam stuck out his tongue in awe. "Seo Baek was right—we're lucky to be on this boat. If we'd stuck with the Ami one, we'd be fish food by now."
Yu So Un teased him. "Even fish couldn't swallow a silver coin like you, so you're safe."
"You wouldn't let me become fish food before collecting that life debt?"
"After all those unpaid debts, it feels like a loss not to."
"Damn you, you heartless bastard!"
The group bantered to pass the time.
Three days passed since Seo Baek's group boarded.
Sunset came. It was time to seek the missing Chanju Ship.
The infiltration team was set: Seo Baek's trio, Deputy Leader Mo Hyeok Gwang, and two skilled broad dao boatsmen. Six in total.
But Yang So So stepped forward. "I'm coming too."
"Leader, leave the dangerous work to us."
"I can't stand by any longer. This time, we'll uncover the Chanju Ship's secret."
With Yang So So digging in her heels, Mo Hyeok Gwang gave up protesting. The team grew to seven.
The boatsmen laid out infiltration gear on deck: oil-soaked torches wrapped in cloth, triple-braided tough hemp ropes, iron pry bars for nails, hand axes for breaching wooden walls, and more.
Perfect tools for a shipwreck or grounding.
Meanwhile, the boat veered into a Long River tributary.
The Long River—named for spanning the Central Plains east to west—boasted tributaries sprawling like a spiderweb. Floods often reshaped them entirely. Even lifelong river folk could get lost.
The boat entered a swift tributary.
Suddenly, thick mist rolled in from somewhere, blinding them within a zhang.
"This is nuts. Ghosts are gonna pop out any second."
Wang Yi Sam grumbled.
"Not even Li Bai drinking under the moonlight—whose ship shows up only on full moons? Never heard such a weird tale in all my Central Plains wandering."
"No reason for them to lure us here just to deceive us."
"True enough."
Then it happened.
As the mist parted and the bright full moon illuminated the river, a massive shadow eclipsed their boat.
The Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang's Chanju Ship emerged majestically from the fog.
Seo Baek's group gaped at its size.
"…!"
Their current boat was already twice the Ami Faction's. Yet the Chanju Ship dwarfed it by more than double.
"It's enormous."
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard.
In the martial world, a sect's prestige was gauged by the size of its temple or manor.
Peerless masters arose from decades of training or innate genius—beyond what a sect alone could produce.
But temple or manor scale revealed current prosperity.
This Chanju Ship rivaled Shu Dao Pass fortresses!
Proof of the gang's former glory before the revenant outbreak.
Mo Hyeok Gwang ordered the boatsmen, "Bring us alongside."
They rowed, easing the boat parallel to the Chanju Ship.
"Begin."
Four boatsmen stepped forward, whirling ropes with grappling hooks and hurling them at the Chanju Ship.
Whoosh. Clank.
The bird-claw hooks latched onto the rail.
The boatsmen pulled the ropes taut.
A web of ropes formed between the four lines—a rope ladder for crossing.
With preparations complete, the seven infiltrators crossed to the Chanju Ship.
Once across, two boatsmen retrieved the hooks and tossed them back. The bridge vanished.
Wang Yi Sam, unable to hold back, griped, prompting Yu So Un's retort.
"Why destroy a perfectly good rope ladder?"
"If the current picks up, the Chanju Ship could drag us and capsize our boat."
"Ah, got it."
"For someone who's roamed the Central Plains forever, you sure don't know much."
"Smartass! I've stuck to land—rivers ain't my thing."
Their exchange was as warm as ever.
Mo Hyeok Gwang commanded the remaining boatsmen. "Follow at a distance."
"Understood."
As the boat pulled away, the team prepared in earnest.
Two boatsmen lit torches with a fire starter, illuminating the dim deck.
The Chanju Ship's deck was vast enough to pass for Shika Manor's front courtyard.
But something was off. The deck was impeccably tidy.
"The sails are properly catching the wind."
"Knots are tight—looks like they were tied just days ago?"
The boatsmen reported in disbelief.
A crewless ship drifting the Long River, yet perfectly maintained? And not a soul in sight?
The group swallowed nervously amid the unease. Seo Baek pieced it together.
'Revenants, as expected.'
The secret of the unmanned drifting ship.
It had to be overrun by revenants. Everyone aboard must have turned.
Now, locating the hidden revenants would be key.
A boatsman returned from the stern. "The command room door is locked—won't budge."
The team exchanged looks.
Strange. In a revenant outbreak, they'd burst out seeking escape, not lock themselves in.
Mo Hyeok Gwang ordered, "Enter the hold through the cargo hatch."
Two boatsmen lowered a rope into the central hatch. Pitch blackness below.
One descended, crouching on the floor with broad dao raised. He scanned around with his torch.
East, south, west, north….
Nothing in the darkness.
"All clear."
Mo Hyeok Gwang addressed the team. "Speed is everything here. Execute the plan swiftly."
Obvious, of course.
No one wanted to linger long on a crewless ship adrift in the Long River.
One by one, the infiltrators rappelled into the darkness.